RCB captain Rajat Patidar leaves Phil Salt in awe: He's brilliant in all areas

India Today

Phil Salt was in awe of RCB captain Rajat Patidar and said that the MP batter is brilliant in all areas of his game and has a good cricket brain. Patidar's fifty and his captaincy helped RCB secure a famous win at Chepauk on Friday, March 28.

Transcript

00:00When you come to Chennai you normally expect something on the slower side and I think that's

00:24actually what we ended up getting. As the game went on it got a little bit more too

00:29paced and a little bit harder to go across. It spun a little bit but not as much as maybe

00:36wickets will later in the tournament here so it's good to come here and come away with

00:41a win.

00:42And Rajat has also shuffled his ball as well. He kept the pressure till the end. How about

00:48the cap and see?

00:49Yeah, brilliant cap and see. Obviously to take the initiative early with the new ball,

00:55that's one thing. But then to not take the foot off the gas and really drive at home.

01:00I don't think there was any period of that game where we let up from keeping the pressure

01:04on them. So you've got to tip your hat to the bowlers and to Rajat for flipping around

01:09like that as you said.

01:10Next question please.

01:11Phil, congrats on the win. Just on your partnership with Kohli and today, one of those days that

01:12he did not really get going at the front. What are the conversations you're having

01:13with him and is that something that you're looking forward to?

01:14Yeah, definitely. That's definitely part of it. I think it's been made very clear to

01:38me why I'm here at RCB and what they were looking for in the auction to partner with

01:43Virat. So the dynamics of the partnership I'm very aware of and it's to be aggressive

01:50and to take the pressure off the rest of the guys, especially when you come somewhere like

01:55here. If you don't take advantage of those early seamovers, then you can be left up against

02:01it when the spin comes on and they can really take control of the game. So it was very key

02:05here and that was spoken about, yeah.

02:09Can we have? Yes, sir.

02:10Phil, you're new to this set-up but how do you see Rajat Pakhita's consistency and the

02:17way he handles his resources and his backing? He comes, he takes down in the middle, so

02:23what is your take on Rajat Pakhita and his game and tactics?

02:28I think he's brilliant in all areas, if I'm being honest with you. I think the batting

02:35is right up there with the best around. I've not seen anybody hit spin the way that he

02:40can. Obviously, he rode his luck a little bit tonight, but that's the game, you get

02:45that in patches. I've not seen anyone hit the ball like him off spinners and especially

02:50some of those slower balls that he hit for six, it was unbelievable. And then you come

02:55to his captaincy and he's a cool head, he's very calm under pressure. He's got very good

03:01cricket reign, he thinks about the game very deeply. And as I've already said, the way

03:06that he spun the bowlers around tonight to make sure that we were keeping pressure on

03:09them at all times, there's not much more you can ask for. And there's a reason he's got

03:15a Man of the Match trophy as well.

03:17Yes, sir.

03:18Phil, a little bit about your decision to play in a game against New England. Is there

03:23still a novelty factor against left-armer, not without spoilers, obviously faced with

03:29Is it still a little tricky to keep them off the wicket or off the hand?

03:34It varies, I'd say. A lot of it depends on who the bowler is. I think Noor's a little

03:43trickier than most left-armers, I'd say. But you're very aware that his googly is his danger

03:49ball, that's the one that's going to go across you. You've got a couple of leggies to spin

03:54tonight, but I think you've got to have a good game plan to these guys. Mine was to

04:00be across my stumps and to try and nullify the leg spinner and then hope I get more googlies.

04:06Everybody's got different ways of going about it and I think picking the ball out of the

04:12hand is just one of those things that happens with time. I've played a fair bit of cricket

04:16with him, so I know his variations, but if there are some guys that are playing against

04:21him for the first or second time, it's going to be trickier.

04:28Tim was saying to the commentary team that in the morning there was a discussion that

04:32we won in 2008 and last time in Chepauk. Was there any kind of discussion? You can just

04:37put some light on that, RCD beating CSK in Chepauk last time in 2008 and what was the

04:44discussion and how big do you think it is beating them and the heaviest defeat in Chepauk

04:50with CSK?

04:51Yeah, it was actually at breakfast. Some sort of an article came up on my phone and it was

04:57all the things that have happened since RCB beat CSK here. Pretty light-hearted conversation,

05:03there wasn't too much in it, but yeah, it's a good win. I think if you take it back to

05:12us as a unit right now, to win the first two games of the tournament is always where you

05:18want to be, but to beat the champions in their home ground and then come here, which is a

05:22very, very tough place to come and get a win. We're really happy with the fact that we're

05:29sitting two games, four points, obviously with a boost in the net run rate as well,

05:34but we're very aware of how good a side CSK are, especially at home, so we're pleased.

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